


Falling in Love with You

by T-Rex (tmishkin)



Category: Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Genre: Card Games, Cuddling & Snuggling, Feelings Realization, Insomnia, M/M, talking about feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:08:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25312078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tmishkin/pseuds/T-Rex
Summary: After Granby's near-death experience in battle, Laurence realizes that his feelings go beyond friendship.
Relationships: John Granby/William Laurence, William Laurence & John Granby & Temeraire
Comments: 5
Kudos: 12
Collections: Temeraire Summer Exchange 2020





	Falling in Love with You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ashembie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashembie/gifts).



> Ashembie requested a Laurence/Granby fic where feelings are the focus, with optional smut. Done and done--hope you like it!

It didn’t happen when Granby was shoved off Temeraire’s back by a Frenchman in the heat of battle. Nor when Temeraire snatched him from the air not ten feet above a stand of trees. It was that night, when Will Laurence woke from a nightmare in which his second-in-command had died in that fall, that he began to realize that he loved John Granby.

Laurence sat up in bed, gasping. The grief and the subsequent relief of waking was overwhelming. Laurence tried to calm his breathing. He had lost men before, good men, and it had not affected him like this. In the dream, Laurence had felt ripped apart by Granby’s death.

What was Granby to him? They worked well together after a rocky start. Laurence respected the man’s knowledge of dragons and his ability to harness Temeraire’s crew and keep them pulling like a team of matched carriage horses. What Laurence felt now was more than just respect for competence. The thought of losing Granby, of speaking at his funeral—God, no!—brought tears to his eyes.

Still shaking, Laurence slid into his boots and pulled on an overcoat. He would go to Temeraire. Even if the dragon were asleep, Laurence could still find comfort in curling up next to him.

The night was full dark, the moon only a sliver. Laurence uncovered his lantern just enough to see the path to Temeraire’s clearing. The big dragon was snoring quietly, but he wasn’t alone. Granby was leaning against his foreleg, wrapped in a blanket. Laurence felt his face flush, but he kept walking, coming to a stop next to his lieutenant.

“I couldn’t sleep,” said Granby, looking up at him.

“Nor I,” Laurence replied. “Well, I did, but I had a dream made me loath to close my eyes again.”

Granby shifted slightly and patted the ground in invitation. Laurence shrugged mentally and sat down. Better to be awake in company than alone. Together they slumped against Temeraire’s warm hide.

Laurence tipped his head back and sighed. He felt calmer now with Granby next to him. He closed his eyes. Granby was quiet for a long time and Laurence felt himself drifting a little.

“Closest I’ve been to death, Laurence,” he said at last. 

“Too close.”

Neither of them spoke after that. When the sky began to lighten, Laurence woke to Temeraire’s warm breath on his face. Granby’s head was on his shoulder.

“Laurence, did you sleep here all night?” Temeraire asked. “Are you all right? And Lieutenant Granby?”

Hearing his name in the dragon’s bass rumble, Granby jerked awake. “Oh, I beg your pardon, Laurence,” he said. “Good morning, Temeraire.”

“Thank you, my dear,” said Laurence to Temeraire. “We are well, just a bit shaken from yesterday’s events. We had better be getting back, though. I will be out to see you after breakfast.”

As they walked back towards their rooms, Laurence caught Granby’s eye. “You can call me Will if you wish, when we’re not on duty. It seems foolish to stand on ceremony when you’ve saved my life and I—or rather Temeraire—yours.”

Granby smiled. “Call me John.” He paused a moment. “Does this mean I can fall asleep on your shoulder?”

“Etiquette dictates that at this stage in our friendship, yes, that would be appropriate,” Laurence said dryly. It was that or blushing. He was not going to blush.

%%%

“Care for a game, John?” Laurence asked a few days later. He and Chenery were looking for players for vingt-un. Or, as Chenery called them, victims.

“But of course,” said Granby. “Nothing’s more entertaining than relieving senior officers of their pay.”

Laurence passed several enjoyable evenings over cards with Granby and Chenery. They were both easy to talk to, and Granby had a natural talent for counting cards and calculating odds. While Granby studied his cards, Laurence studied Granby. He was attractive in a rumpled, artless way like many of the aviators, tanned and muscular. But he was the only one who made Laurence feel awkward and wish he had Chenery’s brassy confidence.

Once, when Granby had stepped out for a piss, Chenery tilted his head and gave Laurence an inquiring look. “Granby?” he said softly. Laurence flushed and shook his head slowly. He was not fully accustomed to the laxer, well, no, different, morality of the Aerial Corps. Chenery smiled. “Looks like he’d be amenable,” he said, “That is, if you are.”

Laurence took hold of his wineglass slowly and took a long and thoughtful sip. Then he busied himself shuffling the cards. Fortunately, Granby returned before Laurence ran out of things to do with his hands. Lord, a wink and a nudge from Chenery. That was the last thing he needed.

%%%

The next evening, Chenery excused himself early, claiming fatigue. “Too many late nights, gentlemen,” he said. “Maximus has chided me for not taking better care of myself.”

Laurence had a twenty-ton nursemaid in Temeraire. He could only imagine what it was like to have a Regal Copper hovering over one. He and Granby played a few hands of piquet, but Laurence was restless. He told himself he didn’t like two-person card games as much as he did vingt-un or quadrille, but he suspected his nerves had another cause. “John,” he said. “Would you care for a stroll?”

Granby was, as Chenery would put it, amenable to a walk around the covert. The moon was half full now, but the night was still fairly dark. Laurence could see well enough without a lantern not to stumble. Perhaps Granby didn’t see as well at night, for he nearly took a tumble on a piece of uneven ground. Laurence caught him by the shoulder and steadied him, then felt awkward, so he clapped Granby on the back and slung an arm over his shoulder. He felt some odd combination of happiness and embarrassment, which left him overly warm. He wondered what Granby was feeling.

Their wandering feet brought them to Temeraire’s clearing. He lifted his head as they came closer. Laurence slid his arm off Granby’s shoulder as casually as he could manage and greeted Temeraire.

“Would you like some company, my dear?” Laurence asked. 

“Thank you, yes,” Temeraire said. “I don’t usually wake up once I’ve fallen asleep. It’s not so easy to get back to sleep as it is to fall asleep in the first place. I wonder why that is?”

“Good question,” said Laurence. “I’m the same way, but I don’t know why.”

“Oh, I’m the opposite,” Granby interjected. “It’s not easy for me to fall asleep unless I’m exhausted, but once I do, I’m down for the night.”

Temeraire looked thoughtful. “Well,” he said, “However your sleep habits go, you are welcome to curl up here with me. As long as you don’t kick. Volly kicks. Hard.” He lifted his wing and invited them to shelter beneath it.

“John?” said Laurence. Granby nodded, and they sat down together under the great black wing. 

Temeraire sighed. “I don’t like to keep you from your bed, Laurence, but I do sleep better when you’re here.”

“We don’t mind at all,” said Laurence. “Once you’re back to sleep we’ll head inside.” Laurence felt as though he were two people in the same body: one having a completely normal conversation with Temeraire and Granby and the other fighting to keep his breathing steady as Granby’s warmth settled at his side. Touching from shoulder to knee in the dark and intimate space generated an intensity of feeling he had never before experienced.

Granby’s hand brushed his, and Laurence seized the moment, curling his fingers around Granby’s. He held his breath, but Granby merely squeezed Laurence’s hand.

He had never taken a man’s hand in this way. There had been other men, in the navy, but those encounters had been furtive and quick, without the luxury of emotional intimacy. He felt as though he were a sail filled with wind. And then Granby stroked the palm of Laurence’s hand with his thumb and whispered, “Will, yes.”

Laurence was suspended in velvet darkness, outside of time and space, the only sensation in the world Granby’s fingers moving over his. After a while, he registered dimly that Temeraire slept. “Let’s start back,” he whispered. “I want to. . . I want to kiss you, but not here.”

They slid out from under Temeraire’s wing, and Laurence patted his flank to settle him.

Granby took Laurence’s hand and they began walking. About halfway back to their quarters, Laurence turned and reached for Granby, pulling him into an embrace. They kissed, gently at first, then more passionately. Granby pressed himself against Laurence and nibbled his ear. Laurence felt Granby’s cock, hard against his leg. He put his hands on Granby’s arse and shifted him slightly so that they could rub together. God, it felt so good.

Granby let go of his earlobe, licked along his jaw, and kissed his lips once, then pulled back a bit, still in Laurence’s arms but not quite so close.

“How long have you felt this way?” he whispered.

Laurence sighed. “Since . . .since you fell. Before that, too, for some time, I think, but I didn’t realize quite what I was feeling.”

“I think I’ve always been attracted to you, Will, on some level, even when you were disciplining me for being insolent that first day.”

Laurence raised an eyebrow at that. “Hmm, well, shall we retire to my quarters? I can instruct you further on the proper way to address a senior officer—without fear of interruption.” 

“I may need several lessons,” said Granby. 

They spent a few more minutes under the half moon, learning the shape of each other’s mouths, and then headed inside, walking a decorous distance apart. As they headed up the stairs, Laurence found himself already missing Granby’s touch. Once the door was closed and locked, they embraced, Granby pushing Laurence against the nearest wall, his hands roaming feverishly over Laurence’s body. 

“Will,” he said breathlessly. “Can I…can I use my mouth to bring you off?”

Laurence shivered. “Oh, God, yes!” He grabbed Granby’s arse and ground into him. 

“You have to let me go, Will,” Granby laughed. “Else how will I drop to my knees for you?”

“You’ve got a really nice arse, but yes, please.”

It had been years since Laurence had felt the shock of a hot, wet mouth enveloping his cock. Granby knew exactly what he was doing, taking nearly the entire length and sucking hard enough to hollow his cheeks. His hands pressed lightly against Laurence’s hips.

“John, I’m close,” Laurence gasped. “John!” Granby had backed off slightly at the first sound of his name, and he took the first spurts of Laurence’s come in his mouth, the rest splattering his chest.

Laurence let his head fall back against the wall and sighed with pleasure. Granby surged to his feet. Pulling Laurence close, he murmured, “God, you’re beautiful like that!”

“Mmm,” said Laurence articulately. “Bed.”

Granby steered him gently to the bed, pulling off his damp shirt and lying down next to Laurence. After a moment, Laurence rolled so that his chest pressed against Granby’s back and took him in hand. His cock was firm and warm in Laurence’s grip. Granby sighed with pleasure as Laurence began to stroke him, adding a little twist at the end. Laurence felt Granby begin to twitch as he neared his climax and he quickened the pace. Granby moaned as he came hard, painting the sheets and Laurence’s hand.

Laurence rolled back, pulling Granby to face him, and wrapped his arms around his lover. “That was good, so good,” Laurence whispered. “Yes,” said Granby. They had time for only a few gentle kisses before they fell asleep.

%%%

Laurence opened his eyes to see Granby up on one elbow watching him. He flushed, then smiled.

“Good morning, John,” he said.

And indeed it was.


End file.
